Method for adding moisture to particulate material

ABSTRACT

The method for adding moisture to particulate material involves placing the particulate material in the lower portion of a bin; rotating vertically disposed spaced augers about a longitudinal axis, and moving said augers in concentric paths through the particulate material. Moisture is then sprayed on the upper surface of the particulate material adjacent the augers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/281,791 filed on Jul.27, 1994.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most grains cannot be stored when they possess a moisture content ofmore than 15%. While "dry"corn is suitable for animal feed at thisreduced moisture level, other grains, such as rice, does not cook wellat that reduced moisture level. Accordingly, it is necessary to addmoisture to rice so that the moisture content thereof is at the 17%level to obtain optimum cooking conditions.

Current devices and methods for re-moisturizing rice are very expensive(e.g., $45,000) and are not completely accurate, are not easy tooperate, and consume considerable time and attention to function.

It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide amethod for adding moisture to particulate material, such as grains,which is economical, which is fully automatic, which is relatively fast,and which can be conducted by an average person with a reasonable amountof training.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The machine involving the method of this invention for adding moistureto particulate material for use in a bin which has an upper portion withan elongated supporting rail thereon includes an elongated substantiallyhorizontal support member. A rail adapter element is on the outer end ofthe elongated member to engage the supporting rail on the bin. A swivelsupport element is secured to the other end of the elongated member andis adapted to be connected to the center of the bin structure forholding the other end of the elongated member at a level position withrespect to the outer end.

A motor is connected to the elongated member for rotating the same abouta horizontal axis. A pair of support brackets are longitudinally movablymounted on the elongated member. Mixing augers are mounted on thebrackets and extend downwardly therefrom. A second power means on thesupport brackets serve to rotate the mixing augers about a verticalaxis.

Fluid nozzles are mounted on the support brackets adjacent to the mixingaugers and are connected to a source of fluid. A control means isconnected to the motor and the second power means and to the fluidnozzles to cause rotation of the elongated member. The control means isalso connected to the fluid nozzles to cause fluid to flow therethroughonto the particulate material in the bin while the mixing augers aremoving through the particulate material.

The method of adding moisture to particulate material includes placingthe particulate material in the lower portion of a bin; rotatingvertically disposed spaced augers about a longitudinal axis, and movingsaid augers in concentric paths through the particulate material.Moisture is then sprayed on the upper surface of the particulatematerial adjacent the augers. By utilizing a computer, the existingmoisture content of the particulate material is determined; the desiredamount of moisture content of the particulate material is thenregistered in the computer; the computer then determines the quantity ofthe particulate material; and then calculates the amount of moisture tobe added to achieve the desired moisture content. When that desiredmoisture content is achieved, the computer stops spraying moisture onthe particulate material.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view showing the schematic layoutof the apparatus of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an upper perspective view of the apparatus of this inventionas mounted in the upper portion of a grain bin;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged scale elevational view of the stirring andmoisture delivery system of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the computer which controls the variouscomponents of the system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Grain stirring and aeration devices are old in the art and are typicallyillustrated by the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:

4,274,750

4,836,686

4,854,719

The numeral 10 represents a conventional grain bin with a hollow floor12, vertical cylindrical sidewalls 14, and a roof 16 with a grainopening 18 at the apex thereof. A conventional grain spreader 19 ismounted in opening 18. A circular rail 20 is secured to the innersurface of the sidewalls 14 and extends around the upper portion of theinterior of the bin. A conventional sweep auger 22 is mounted on top ofthe hollow floor 12, and a fan 24 is connected to the space under floor12 to provide forced air to the interior of the bin.

An elongated roll member 26 has a rail adapter 28 on its outer end 30and a conventional electric motor 31 mounted on the inner end 32. Abracket 34 is secured to the inner end of the roll member 26 and issecured to the top of the bin in any convenient way.

An elongated fluid conduit 38 extends through bearing support 36 andterminates in swivel 40. A solenoid valve 42 is attached to swivel 40and is adapted to open and close the fluid passageway in swivel 40. Afluid line 44 extends from the output side of swivel 40 and is connectedto nozzles 46 which are mounted on brackets 48 (FIG. 3) which extendsbetween auger support brackets 50 which in turn are mounted on theelongated roll member 26. The auger support brackets 50 supportelongated auger shafts 52 by their upper end. The auger shafts areadapted to mix particulate material by means of a flighting 53 spirallywound on the outer surface thereof. Rollers 54 are mounted on brackets50 and engage roll member 26 and serve the same purpose as they serve inthe aforementioned patents. Belt drives 56 are mounted on the upper endsof auger shafts 52 and can be driven by a suitable source of power,(i.e. motors 51A, FIGS. 2 and 4).

With reference to FIG. 4, a computer 58 has input stations 58a, 58b, and58c to receive such information as the existing moisture of theparticulate material in the bin, the desired ending moisture, and thenumber of bushels or volume of the particulate material to be moistened.Computer 58 has a calculator 58d which calculates the pounds of moistureto be added to the particulate material after taking into account theamount of particulate material, the moisture content thereof, and theamount of water desired in the final mix. The computer 58 can beactivated to in turn activate pump 60 which pumps water through fluidregulator 62 and into fluid conduit 38. When in operation, the pumpedfluid then proceeds through support bearing 36 and thence to swivel 40.If solenoid valve 42 is open, the fluid proceeds through fluid conduit44 to nozzles 46 where the fluid is dispensed in the form of a mist. Thesolenoid valve 42 will cut off the water flow if the motor 31 is stoppedby a mercury switch 68 which detects a lag in one of the auger shafts52. The swivel 40 allows the device to move around the interior of thebin without the conduit 38 or the conduit 44 becoming twisted.

The fluid flow sensor 66 is a Micro Trak FM 500 flow sensor. The sensor66 is input to a counter and a frequency to voltage converter. (Notshown). The current reflects the current flow rate. The flow rate can bechanged according to operating conditions. The computer continuallydisplays the gallons yet to be applied to the particulate material andthe current flow rate through the display window 70 (FIG. 4).

The computer 58 adjusts the regulator 62 to maintain the desired flowrate. The regulator 62 is a bypass and a valve. The bypass allows theexcess water from the pump to flow back into the reservoir 64. The valveis operated by the computer to produce less flow to the nozzles in thebin as required. When the bypass is operative, opening the valveincreases flow to the nozzles and reduces flow through the bypass.

When the counter 80 (FIG. 4) reaches the calculated value, all the waterhas been added and the pump 60 is shut off.

While the drawings depict use of the invention in a round bin, thedevice of the invention could also be moved transversely across thewidth or length of a rectangular bin.

Moisture is added to rice just prior to being packaged. This inventionand the method and apparatus thereof permit rice to be quickly andeasily moisturized at a cost of approximately $5,000 as compared to muchmore expensive equipment. Accordingly, it is seen that this inventionwill achieve at least all of its stated objectives.

What is claimed is:
 1. The method of adding moisture to particulatematerial, comprising,placing particulate material in the lower portionof a bin, rotating vertically disposed spaced augers about alongitudinal axis, and moving said augers in concentric paths throughsaid particulate material, and determining the existing moisture contentof said particulate material, determining the desired moisture contentof said particulate material, determining the quantity of saidparticulate material, calculating the amount of water to be added toachieve said desired moisture content, spraying moisture on the uppersurface of said particulate material adjacent said augers. and stoppingsaid spraying of moisture when said desired moisture level is reached.